Session 2019-06-03
Events Background Having slain Ironhide and brought the head - as proof - back to the abandoned orc village, the party are brought to meet the rest of the tribe and the envoy they sought, Roscoe Tosscobble. Quality Time They spend a few days with the hill orcs, learning from Roscoe that he cut off communications with Port Clarence and advised the tribe to relocate because he no longer trusted Gewalder Holt, correctly suspecting that he had something to do with the disappearance of villagers. He also introduces them to his orcish wife, Batul. The chief of the tribe, Boss Yakha - after whom all of the other tribe members derive their surname - shows a warm welcome to the party, sharing his finest wine with them, he tells the story of the schism of the tribe, when many of their finest warriors opted not to have any further contact with outsiders and retreated further into the mountains. Urzog asks the chief if he remembers two half-orc hunters passing through these lands and discovers that his father and brother did indeed travel through seeking great beasts to hunt, Boss Yakha believes they headed further into the mountains, but this was some years before. Kidnapping After a couple of days rest with the tribe, a young orc runs to Boss Yakha in desperation, it turns out they were undergoing their naming ceremony with the shaman Quimjig when they were attacked by hooded assailants, five of the other youngsters had been carried away! Reached the ceremonial standing stone, the party find Quimjig barely recovering from some debilitating gas attack, with the only other creature nearby a small black and white animal. Quimjim points down the hill, Boss Yakha stays with him and the party take off in pursuit of the kidnappers. Scree Slope The party come across a steep scree slope, which the kidnappers are already partway down, Zirvis dives headfirst down the slope, skewering one of the creatures with his trident as he does so. William expertly slides down behind him, whilst Urzog guides Maggie down a safer passage, allowing both of them to fire upon the kidnappers as they descend. A flurry of attacks follow from the party, felling several of their diminutive foes - upon closer inspection they are kobolds - by the time they reach the bottom of the slope. Zirvis calls up a powerful gust of wind, hurling two of the kidnappers away back up the slope, and the party give chase to the others. Rope Bridge In hot pursuit of the kidnapped orcs, who are each being carried between two kobolds, the chase leads to an old rope bridge across a deep chasm, Zirvis's gust of wind blasts a wasps nest - intended as a trap for the party - into one of the kobolds, who falls off the bridge in his panic. Arrows from Urzog and fire bolts from Maggie fell more of them as they cross the bridge, William charges into action but many of the smaller kobolds prove too nimble for him. Four of the five kidnapped orcs are dropped as the party slay many of the kobolds, their apparent leader and a handful of survivors run into a forest, Zirvis stays behind to untie the prisoners as the rest of the party continues the chase. Ruins Following the kobolds through the forest, the party find themselves at the doorway of an ancient looking ruin, they safely trigger a tripwire trap, which drops a pot full of ravenous grubs into the doorway. William bravely runs through the grubs, stamping several of them into paste, which allows three of them to burrow into his leg, causing agony. The kobolds within the reception hall of the ruins put up a minor resistance to the party, and Maggie delicately uses her mage hand to pluck two of the grubs from William's leg. William, who by this point is in extreme pain, heats an arrowhead and plunges the arrow into his leg, skewering the final grub but leaving him on death's door. Zirvis arrives, despatching the last of the kobolds, and he and William charge into the next room of the ruins, immediately killing several more kobolds and demanding the surrender of the rest. Surprisingly, a tearful surrender is given, and the party see for the first time a huge wyvern behind the kobolds, which had recently succumbed to its severe wounds. Searching the ruins, the party find the wyvern's horde and Urzog harvests the beast's scales, claws and poison, as well as finding a small clutch of eggs. Participants Andy (DM) John - Zirvis Chris - Magdeline Greenwood Sam - Urzog the hunter Mark - William Wyndsore Rewards Wyvern scales Wyvern claws 2 x wyvern eggs 120 silver pieces 40 gold pieces An intricate silver ring whose design consists of five small hands, each one holding the wrist of another to form a loop. Participants also gained 1 experience point.